Jeff B. Kray
Jeff Kray is a partner at Marten Law Group whose practice focuses on water resources, water quality, and complex environmental litigation, including CERCLA (Superfund) site remediation. He has represented public and private clients in cases involving multiple parties, and in multiple jurisdictions including cases in Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Missouri, Hawaii, and California. Jeff has litigated cases at all levels, from administrative hearings, to trial courts, the Washington Supreme, and the United States Courts of Appeals, as well as participating in matters before the United States Supreme Court.
Before joining Marten Law Group, Jeff practiced for more than 10 years in the Washington Attorney General’s Office as an Assistant Attorney General representing the Washington State Departments of Ecology, Retirement Systems, and Labor & Industries, the Washington State Investment Board, and the Washington State Legislature. There he addressed diverse operational and regulatory issues, including disputes involving water quality, air quality, spills, shoreline issues, and the Administrative Procedures Act.
Jeff has been listed a Washington State “Super Lawyer ®” by Washington Law and Politics Magazine (2006, 2007, and 2008).
Representative Cases Include:
- Lead defense counsel before the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit for the former operator of a Superfund Site in actions against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other private parties for cost recovery claims and contribution under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This complex case involved five separate lawsuits, including several environmental and cost recovery claims, insurance coverage litigation, and probate.
- Lead defense counsel in five inter-related federal lawsuits under the Clean Water Act involving regulatory compliance with industrial stormwater permits. All five suits were successfully settled via a consent decree approved by the Department of Justice and U.S. District Court.
- Represented the Washington Department of Ecology in the defense of a Clean Water Act Section 401 permit issued to the Port of Seattle to construct a third runway at SeaTac International Airport.
- Lead counsel defending the Washington Department of Ecology in a suit regarding the State’s motor vehicle emissions testing contract.
- Assisted a lender with its foreclosure and litigation of loans involving timber properties in Hawaii with Endangered Species Act (ESA) issues.
- Assisted client in evaluating water rights and other environmental issues relating to the potential purchase of bankrupt former brewery property that included water rights and well-fields.
- Lead counsel in multiple cases successfully prosecuting and defending claims to recover environmental cleanup costs under Washington’s Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) or similar state laws in Oregon, Alaska, and California. Representative cases have involved former landfills, gas stations, dry cleaners, salvage and recycling facilities, and lumber mills.
- Advised a prominent Washington homebuilder on compliance with state and federal stormwater pollution control laws and on revising their real estate contracts to appropriately allocate stormwater pollution control risks.